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Results of 2010/11 Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme Released

The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced today (October 3) the results of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) taken by final year students of UGC-funded undergraduate degree programmes under the 2010/11 Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS).

About 12 400 final year students, or about 68% of all full-time and part-time final year undergraduate students, participated in the 2010/11 round of CEPAS. This represents an increase of about 3% in terms of the number of participants as compared with last year, and is a record high.

The average overall score attained by the students is 6.69 on a nine-point scale. About 84.8% of the students attained a score in the 6.0 - 7.5 range which means they are "competent" or "good" users of the English language in terms of the IELTS scoring system.

Among the four modules of the test, students did better in "reading" and "listening", scoring overall 7.31 and 7.19 respectively. Their average scores in "writing" and "speaking" are 5.99 and 6.04 respectively. Institutions are encouraged to utilise the CEPAS results to inform their English language enhancement strategies and programmes.

Breakdowns of candidates' average scores by broad academic discipline and by institution are attached at Annexes A and B. Comparisons of the overall average scores in 2009/10 and 2010/11, broken down by broad academic discipline and by institution, are attached at Annexes C and D.

For the 2010/11 round of CEPAS, 40 testing sessions were held from July 2010 to May 2011. For the 2011/12 round of CEPAS, the registration period is from April 1 to 29, 2011 (Period 1) and September 1 to October 19, 2011 (Period 2). Students may continue to register online (www.ugccepa.com).

CEPAS is a voluntary assessment scheme intended to encourage students to be more aware of the importance of English proficiency, and to provide a common framework for assessing and documenting graduating students' English proficiency. IELTS has been adopted by UGC as the testing tool under CEPAS since 2002/03. Test fees will be reimbursed once if students agree to reflect their participation in CEPAS in their transcript. The actual test score however will not be shown.

IELTS results are reported on a band scale from 0 to 9. Scores are reported in whole and half bands. According to the IELTS scoring system, candidates scoring Band 6 are considered competent users who have a generally effective command of the English language, despite some inaccuracies, while those scoring Band 7 are considered good users who generally handle complex language well.

An overall Band of 6.5 or above with no subtest score below Band 6 obtained in the same sitting in the Academic Module of IELTS within the two-year validity period are accepted as equivalent to "Level 2" result in the Use of English paper of the Government's Common Recruitment Examination.

Annex A

Distribution of Average Overall Scores and Sub-scores of Final Year
Undergraduate Students in 2010/11 by Broad Academic Discipline

 

Broad
Academic
Discipline
No. of final
year students
participated
in CEPAS1
Average
Reading
Sub-score
Average
Listening
Sub-score
Average
Writing
Sub-score
Average
Speaking
Sub-score
Average
Overall
Score
Arts & Humanities 1,402 7.29 7.30 6.05 6.15 6.76
Business & Management 3,778 7.50 7.33 6.06 6.13 6.82
Education 637 6.92 7.01 5.93 6.09 6.55
Engineering & Technology 2,276 7.01 6.90 5.80 5.79 6.44
Medicine, Dentistry & Health 405 7.53 7.34 6.00 5.95 6.76
Physical Sciences 2,115 7.25 7.05 5.88 5.85 6.57
Social Sciences 1,808 7.48 7.34 6.16 6.29 6.88
Total : 12,421 7.31 7.19 5.99 6.04 6.69

1Both part-time and full-time students are eligible to participate.

Annex B

Distribution of Average Overall Scores and Sub-scores
of Final Year Undergraduate Students in 2010/11 by Institution

 

Institution Number and % of
final year students
participated in
CEPAS1
Average
Reading
Sub-score
Average
Listening
Sub-score
Average
Writing
Sub-score
Average
Speaking
Sub-score
Average
Overall
Score
CityU 2,303
(73%)
6.98 6.83 5.84 5.82 6.43
HKBU 1,061
(64%)
7.11 7.00 5.90 6.00 6.57
LU 564
(72%)
6.88 6.81 5.85 5.95 6.43
CUHK 2,206
(69%)
7.71 7.50 6.15 6.20 6.96
HKIEd2 403
(76%)
6.64 6.79 5.81 5.96 6.36
PolyU 2,410
(81%)
7.10 7.03 5.89 5.91 6.55
HKUST 1,486
(74%)
7.46 7.27 5.99 6.03 6.75
HKU 1,988
(59%)
7.79 7.66 6.22 6.31 7.06
Total : 12,421
(68%)
7.31 7.19 5.99 6.04 6.69

1The participation rate is calculated based on total number of projected graduates, including full-time and part-time, except for HKIEd (see Note 2 below).

2401 of the 403 candidates from HKIEd are full-time students, accounting for 76% of projected graduates from full-time programmes in 2010/11. The 403 candidates account for 42% of projected graduates of all programmes in 2010/11.

Annex C

Comparison of Average Overall Scores
of Final Year Undergraduate Students in 2009/10 and 2010/11
by Broad Academic Discipline

 

Broad
Academic
Discipline
2009/10 2010/11
No. of final
year students
participated in
CEPAS1
Average
Overall Score
No. of final
year students
participated in
CEPAS1
Average
Overall Score
Arts &
Humanities
1,315 6.78 1,402 6.76
Business &
Management
3,720 6.82 3,778 6.82
Education 580 6.58 637 6.55
Engineering &
Technology
2,199 6.50 2,276 6.44
Medicine,
Dentistry &
Health
345 6.88 405 6.76
Physical
Sciences
2,081 6.61 2,115 6.57
Social
Sciences
1,823 6.87 1,808 6.88
Total : 12,063 6.72 12,421 6.69

1Both part-time and full-time students are eligible to participate.

Annex D

Comparison of Average Overall Scores and Participation
of Final Year Undergraduate Students in 2009/10 and 2010/11 by Institution

 

Institution 2009/10 2010/11
Number and %
of final year
students
participated in
CEPAS1
Average
Overall Score
Number and %
of final year
students
participated in
CEPAS1
Average
Overall Score
CityU 2,121
(68%)
6.49 2,303
(73%)
6.43
HKBU 1,049
(65%)
6.62 1,061
(64%)
6.57
LU 587
(75%)
6.41 564
(72%)
6.43
CUHK 2,221
(72%)
6.91 2,206
(69%)
6.96
HKIEd2 390
(76%)
6.37 403
(76%)
6.36
PolyU 2,236
(72%)
6.57 2,410
(81%)
6.55
HKUST 1,479
(79%)
6.79 1,486
(74%)
6.75
HKU 1,980
(59%)
7.07 1,988
(59%)
7.06
Total : 12,063
(68%)
6.72 12,421
(68%)
6.69

1The participation rate is calculated based on total number of projected graduates, including full-time and part-time, except for HKIEd (see Note 2 below).

2In 2009/10, 383 of the 390 candidates from HKIEd were full-time students, accounting for 76% of projected graduates from full-time programmes in 2009/10. The 390 candidates accounted for 42% of projected graduates from all programmes in 2009/10. In 2010/11, 401 of the 403 candidates from HKIEd are full-time students, accounting for 76% of projected graduates from full-time programmes in 2010/11. The 403 candidates account for 42% of projected graduates of all programmes in 2010/11.